YOUTH SUSTAINABILITY PLAY PREMIERES IN VANCOUVER

Surrey-based youth theatre group debuts 16-year-old’s Act NOW! National Playwriting Competition winning entry to an audience of 300.

Vancouver, BC, Canada – 300 students and teachers at the Charles Dickens Elementary school cheered and applauded to a stunning premiere of the Act NOW! National Playwriting Competition junior category winning play The Essay.

“I was very impressed with the presentation and so were the staff and students,” praised Diane Lezlee Martinson, Vice Principal of Charles Dickens Elementary. “The actors did a superb job in their roles and the students’ attention was held for the entire performance.”

The imaginative winning entry The Essay was written by Olivia Rempel, a 16-year-old homeschooled student from Abbotsford, BC. Competition judges commended her play as informative and “written in a natural, unpretentious way, full of humour.”

The play performance was directed by Trisha Dulku, a grade 12 student at Fleetwood Park Secondary School. Her theatre group, aptly coined the Jai Ho! Theatre Troupe, consists of young volunteers passionate about sustainability: Fleetwood Park Secondary School students Taylor Harrison, Matthew Furtado, Fara Shah, Nesan Furtado, Kristina Dosanjh, and Jackson Chu, and Simon Fraser University World Literature major Ravi Sall. More performances of the sustainability play by the Jai Ho! Theatre Troupe will follow in the fall.

Two months ago on Earth Day, teenagers Mitchell Agostinho and Olivia Rempel won the 2008-2009 Act NOW! National Playwriting Competition, Canada’s first ever national playwriting competition on sustainability for youth. As promised, along with $200 in prizes, their winning plays will be performed across Canada at schools, festivals, community centres, and other locations by local theatre groups from June 2009 through October 2010 to an estimated audience of 10,000. Mitchell Agostinho will direct his own troupe to perform his senior category winning play The Highschool Environmental starting November 2009.

The first of its kind to challenge Canadian youth to evaluate issues in sustainability and devise interdisciplinary solutions, the competition is organized by the NOW! Organization in collaboration with diverse local and national groups.

Adds one of the competition judges, Lars Rose, a University of British Columbia Materials Engineer working at the National Research Council, “This competition is an extraordinary way of combining arts and science, and of expressing environmental concerns in a creative, educational effort; the plays are a must-see for everyone.”

About the NOW! Organization
Founded in 2006, the NOW! Organization is dedicated to bridging people from diverse backgrounds to sculpt creative, holistic solutions toward social, economic, and environmental sustainability. Run entirely by youth volunteers, the NOW! team implements innovative and grassroots programs to inspire youth, pique ideas and discussions, and spark action.

2008-2009 Act NOW! National Playwriting Competition Partners:
David Suzuki Foundation
Let’s Talk Science National Partnership Program
Environmental Youth Alliance
The Otesha Project
Global Agents for Change
Sierra Youth Coalition

Media Contact:
Janny Ke
The NOW! Organization
www.now-org.com
janny.ke@now-org.com
604-339-1251

NOW! in the media

TWO TEENAGE PLAYWRIGHTS WIN CANADA’S FIRST EVER NATIONAL YOUTH SUSTAINABILITY PLAYWRITING COMPETITION

Sixteen-year-old playwrights voice their concerns and ideas about the environment with a splash of creativity through the Act NOW! National Playwriting Competition

Vancouver, BC, Canada – Two teenagers passionate about raising awareness and taking action on sustainability, Mitchell Agostinho and Olivia Rempel, have won the 2008-2009 Act NOW! National Playwriting Competition. The winning plays will be performed – free to the public – across Canada at schools, festivals, community centres, and other locations by local theatre groups from June 2009 through October 2010 to an estimated audience of more than 10,000.

The Act NOW! National Playwriting Competition, organized by the NOW! Organization in collaboration with local and national outreach partners including the David Suzuki Foundation, the Let’s Talk Science Partnership Program, and the Environmental Youth Alliance, is the first of its kind to challenge Canadian youth ages 12 – 19 to evaluate issues in sustainability and devise interdisciplinary solutions.

“Today’s complex problems demand holistic solutions that bridge people from different backgrounds and disciplines. We are thrilled that youth are voicing their concerns and ideas with a splash of creativity,” said Janny Ke, Founder and President of the NOW! Organization.

Mitchell Agostinho, winner of the senior category, is a Grade 11 student from Windermere Secondary School in Vancouver, BC. His musical The High School Environmental innovatively weaves issues and solutions about environmental problems into dynamic artistic expression. An avid writer, Agostinho has written and directed several successful theatre productions. He will also lead his troupe to premier the performance of his winning musical in Vancouver.

Olivia Rempel, a 16-year-old homeschooled student from Abbotsford, BC, is the winner of the junior category with her imaginative entry The Essay. Judges commended her play as informative and “written in a natural, unpretentious way, full of humour.”

The two winners received $200 each in cash prize and exposure throughout Canada through the performance of their plays.

Honourable mention recipients are Fuluny Jang, 17, from Terry Fox Secondary in Port Coquitlam, Trisha Dulku, 16, from Fleetwood Park Secondary School in Surrey, and Emma Biron, 17, from Lord Byng Secondary in Vancouver.

The competition and the performance of the winning plays have attracted significant interest from organizations, theatre groups, educators, and students alike. The judges of this year’s competition include prominent playwrights and leaders in science and environmental non-for-profit organizations. In Greater Vancouver alone, nearly 20 elementary and secondary schools have enthusiastically signed up for the performances. Already, five youth theatre groups in Vancouver, Courtney, and Nelson have jumped on board to bring the free performances to their area.

About the NOW! Organization
Founded in 2006, the NOW! Organization is dedicated to bridging people from diverse backgrounds to sculpt creative, holistic solutions toward social, economic, and environmental sustainability. Run entirely by youth volunteers, the NOW! team implements innovative and grassroots programs to inspire youth, pique ideas and discussions, and spark action.

2008-2009 Act NOW! National Playwriting Competition Partners:
David Suzuki Foundation
Let’s Talk Science National Partnership Program
Environmental Youth Alliance
The Otesha Project
Global Agents for Change
Sierra Youth Coalition

Media Contact:
Janny Ke
The NOW! Organization
www.now-org.com
janny.ke@now-org.com
604-339-1251

NOW! in the media